Air Con Recharge

[Gatsoburner]

Anyone gone through the experiences of recharging the AC.
Mega hot yesterday and Mrs H complained a bit so roof went up and AC came on.

Needless to say ive never used it myself so thought it was worth a see on how it behaved. Not convinced it's as cool as it should be be but it was 32c yesterday so might have struggled.

Anyone offer and experiences of what their's is like or having done a DIY recharge. R134A seems to be the stuff required.

Cheers Rob

 

[Mint]

Had mine redone last week, £70, using as you say R134a. Passed the vacuum test then took the recharge but leaked out slowly after about a week. I was surprised it worked at all as it must be about 10 years since it did last. The seals have dried out I guess.

 

[Gatsoburner]

Cheers Minty, is it pretty goosed then pending new hoses etc.

I was going to wait til weekend when temp drops a bit so see how it goes under ' normal ' 20c weather.

 

[petecossie]

Had mine recharged a few years back, still works well, lovely and cold last weekend when I went to local BMWCCNE meeting. Turn it on occasionally even during winter (I don't SORN the vehicle) to stop seals drying out.

 

[Gatsoburner]

Cheers for the replies, all good stuff

 

[Grumps]

Had mine re-gassed 2 years ago, it's been 38°c here today and it did keep us cool but certainly wasn't as cold as it has been, but at that temperature it has a lot to deal with.

 

[Mint]

...is it pretty goosed then pending new hoses...

Not sure I'm going to bother tbh. I haven't needed it in 10 years but would have liked it this last week

 

[Pond]

having done a DIY recharge. R134A seems to be the stuff required.

It is against the law to use R134a unless you have the relevant qualification in the UK.
It is a 'controlled substance'.

The stuff you can buy on Amazon, eBay and (so I hear) Halfrauds is NOT R134a. It is a substitute, as it is illegal to sell the real stuff to the public for the reasons above. As a 40 year air conditioning engineer I would advise NOT to put that 'fake stuff' into your car. You will do more harm than good.

 

[Shelly]

My aircon hasn’t worked for years , I had it re-gassed a couple of years ago but the gas came out.
On 13th July my car is going in the garage to have a new air-con radiator put in ,them Alan will gas the radiator when we get it home .

 

[Gatsoburner]

Just had a little read up.
Shop stuffs is a weaker variant then. I see coming another MOT test on it as its an 'offence' to allow it to leak into the atmosphere.
I guess though it's case of if you use it or not may become irrelevant. If it's fitted it must work to a required standard.